Icarus: Sanctuary of the Gods

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Platforms:

PC

Publisher:

JC Research Inc.

Developer:

KRGsoft

Genres:

RPG / Tactical Role-Playing

Release Date:

1998

Game Modes:

Singleplayer

Much like Diablo, Icarus: Sanctuary of the Gods is an RPG rendered in isometric 3D, but its graphics, sound, story, and dialogue are all vastly inferior to Diablo. If one considers Icarus without actually comparing it to Diablo, however, the game fares somewhat better. Mediocre production values and abysmally-translated dialogue aren’t nearly enough to kill the inherently sound RPG formula, which is based, after all, on the slow and steady building of characters and the cathartic attainment of that great firestorm spell.

Good role-playing games work just fine without any visual flair at all-ask anyone who’s ever played Dungeons & Dragons-so Icarus, with its cookie-cutter characters, generic weapons and spells, and determinedly plain graphics, still qualifies as a perfectly pleasant way to spend a few evenings. Diablo fans won’t have any reason to take the step down, but newcomers who have never seen a fancier RPG won’t find much to complain about. The fact that Icarus succeeds as much as it does, in fact, just goes to show how little all the superficial trappings really add.

There is even a certain type of gamer who might prefer Icarus to Diablo-one who fancies its turn-based combat system over Diablo’s more action-fueled hack-and-slash. But overall this is still a budget product with merely decent combat and no multiplayer – a pale shadow of its dark fantasy muse.